Undergraduate - UnitATS4328 - Grand theories of politics

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	Not offered in 2014
Coordinator(s)	TBA

Notes

Previously coded PLT4399

Synopsis

Selected topics in the history of political thought, including the nature of epic or grand theories of politics and the role of various forms of moral, religious, scientific, and metaphysical thinking in such theories. Texts and arguments considered are of two kinds:

models of construction and deconstruction of the history of Western political and philosophical thought in writings of Heidegger, Arendt and Strauss;
conceptions of knowledge, power and morality, culture and civilisation in the thinking of Socrates, Plato, Machiavelli, Rousseau and Nietzsche.

Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit students will be ale to:

Understand the main ideas and arguments of selected political theorists and philosophers studied.
Analyse and discuss accounts of the history of Western political thought considered as a tradition of discourse.
Relate and connect arguments in political theory to ideas and arguments in other areas of philosophical thinking, in particular in ethics.
Assess arguments that political theories are scientific ar artistic in structure, method and significance.

Assessment

Research essay (6000 words): 50%
Examination (3 hours): 40%
Class participation: 10%

Chief examiner(s)

TBA

Workload requirements

2 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar) per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Politics

Prohibitions

COS4399, EUR4399